We have now brought the historical part of our labours to a close, and proceed to what is more interesting to the general reader—the social and moral condition of this interesting people.
The inhabitants of Canada are divided into three classes, among which no complete amalgamation has yet been formed. These are, the original French colonists, commonly called habitans, the British settlers, and the Indian tribes.
The habitans, at the time of the conquest, formed almost the whole of the European population. They had occupied the best lands along the banks of the St. Lawrence, between Quebec and Montreal; a considerable extent of those upon the Richelieu; and a small space on the Chaudière, the Yamaska, the St. Maurice, and other tributaries of the great river, as well as a detached settlement on the fertile shores of the Detroit. These tracts had been granted to persons of distinction and to favourites, usually in large blocks, which, as already stated, they held under the title of seigneurs. But it accorded not with their habits to clear and cultivate for themselves grounds covered with an unbroken forest; nor would the task be undertaken by farmers on the terms of an ordinary lease. The proprietors were therefore obliged to make them over, in small lots, under the feudal title of fiefs, to hardworking men, who, on receiving this permanent interest, were willing to encounter the toil. The annual payment, or quit-rent, is in general exceedingly small, amounting, on some properties, only to 10s. a-year, with a bushel of wheat and two fowls. The seigneur has, besides, certain feudal claims—a tithe on fish, mill-dues, and, more especially, payments on sale or transference, which in some cases amount to a fifth of the purchase-money.
The occupants of these fiefs or farms, under the burdens now specified, are virtual proprietors of the soil, which they cultivate with their own hands, aided by their families. They are described as a particularly contented, industrious, and amiable race of people; and the lots, though much subdivided in the course of succession, are still sufficient to maintain them in simple plenty. They till their land with diligence, though without skill, having scarcely adopted any of the modern improvements. Their study is to produce from the farm every thing they need; not only the whole of their food, but their candles, soap, and even sugar. From flax of their own raising, too, and the wool of their own sheep, they are enabled to manufacture almost every article of clothing. Their houses, though generally built of wood, and only one story high, are whitewashed, and tolerably commodious. A partition in the middle separates the kitchen from the principal apartment, at one end of which are the bed-rooms. There is a garden, which, though in a somewhat rude and straggling state, and cultivated by the females only, yields a comfortable supply of the more common fruits and vegetables.
The personal appearance of the habitans is peculiar. They are tall, thin, and, from exposure to the climate, almost as dark as the Indians. They have thin lips, and often aquiline noses, with small, dark, and lively eyes. Many of the girls are pretty oval-faced brunettes, with fine eyes, good teeth, and glossy locks. The dress is nearly after the old fashion of the French peasantry. The men wear the capot, a large grey coat or surtout, covering nearly the whole body, and tied with a girdle of brilliant colours. On the legs they have moccasins, and on the head a straw hat in summer, and a red bonnet in winter. The hair is still tied in a long queue behind. The women wear short jackets or bed-gowns (mantelets), with petticoats distinct, and sometimes of a different colour, and caps instead of bonnets—a mode of dress formerly common in Scotland, and not yet wholly disused. They have long waists, and sometimes the hair tied behind in a large club. At church, or other occasions of full dress, they adopt the English fashion, but display a much greater variety of showy colours. Hair-powder is sometimes worn, and beetroot employed as rouge; but both in their dress and houses they are perfectly clean.
The habitans are frugal and moderate in their ordinary diet, which mostly consists of different kinds of soup. They have, however, their jours gras, or great feast-days, particularly before and after Lent, when large companies assemble, and the board is spread with every delicacy which their larder can afford. The table groans beneath immense turkey pies, huge joints of beef, mutton, and pork, followed by a profusion of fruit puddings. Extraordinary justice is said to be done to these viands, as well as to the rum which follows; but the younger members of the company are soon roused by the sound of the violin, and the dancing, of which they are passionately fond, engages them till a late hour. Weddings, above all, are celebrated by a mighty concourse of friends and acquaintances. Twenty or thirty of the country carriages bring in parties to witness the ceremony, which is followed by feasts and dances, not unfrequently prolonged for several days. The young people, however, have a somewhat rude method of expressing their opinion of an unequal union, especially if arising from the relative age of the parties. They assemble at night in large bodies, sounding various discordant instruments—horns, drums, bells, kettles, accompanied by loud shouts; and a contribution to the church, or some charitable purpose, is indispensable to obtain a respite from this jocular persecution. The short summer is necessarily spent in almost unremitting labour; but when ice and snow have covered the ground the gay season begins, and in their carioles or little chaises, on steel runners, which pass swiftly over the frozen surface, they visit their neighbours, and spend much time in social intercourse.
The Canadian French, like their forefathers, profess the Roman Catholic religion with much zeal, and in a manner which occasionally approaches superstition. The roads are marked by crosses erected at the side; their houses are filled with little pictures of the Madonna and child, waxen images of saints, and of the crucifixion; and there is a profuse expenditure of holy water and candles. They reluctantly establish their dwelling beyond hearing of the church bells, and on Sundays the attendance is crowded. They have, however, those inadequate notions as to the sanctity of that day, which are general in catholic countries. When worship is over the remainder is devoted, without reserve, to amusements. “Sunday,” it is said, “is to them their day of gaiety; there is then an assemblage of friends and relations; the parish church collects together all whom they know, and with whom they have relations of business or pleasure; the young and old, men and women, clad in their best garments, riding their best horses, driving in their gayest calèches, meet there for purposes of business, love, and pleasure. The young habitant, decked out in his most splendid finery, makes his court to the maiden, whom he has singled out as the object of his affections; the maiden, exhibiting in her adornment every colour of the rainbow, there hopes to meet her chevalier; the bold rider descants upon and gives evidence of the merits of his unrivalled pacer; and in winter the powers of the various horses are tried in sleigh or cariole racing; in short, Sunday is the grand fête.” Even the violin and the dance in the evening are not considered unsuitable. Notwithstanding these customs, the religious spirit of the Canadians appears sincere, and is attended with great benefits. Their general conduct is inoffensive and praiseworthy. Crimes of an atrocious description, as murder and violent assaults upon the person, scarcely ever occur. Property is perfectly safe, both from the thief and the robber; the doors of the houses stand open, and all sorts of goods are exposed without any precaution. They scarcely ever engage in those furious personal conflicts which, among the Americans of English descent, are often carried on with such violence; they know neither duelling, boxing, or gouging. On the contrary, they mutually treat each other with all the ceremonious politeness of the French school. One of the first things taught to a child is to speak decorously, to bow or curtsey to its elders or to strangers. This politeness is not accompanied with any degree of insincerity or servility, above which last they are completely raised by their independent situation. They are said to be generous in relieving those in distress—liberal and courteous to all who have any claim on their hospitality. The custom of parents and children living together, often to the third generation, in the same house, marks a mild and friendly temper. The only form under which hostile passions are vented is that of litigation, to which they are immoderately addicted, being favoured by the comparative cheapness of law. M. Bouchette defends this as securing them from violent and turbulent modes of terminating their differences.
The habitans are not a stirring, enterprizing, or improving race. They tread in the steps of their forefathers, following the same routine, and with difficulty adopting the most obvious improvements of modern husbandry. Although extensive tracts lie in their immediate neighbourhood unoccupied, they resign them to the English and Americans, and have scarcely at all extended the range of their original settlement. Even their amiable qualities tend to retain them in this stationary condition; to which we may add their social disposition, their attachment to their kindred, their church, and the rites of their religion. They feel as if in leaving these things they would leave all. Their range of information has hitherto been very limited; and their priests, it has been alleged, by no means favour the diffusion among them even of the first elements of education; so that the majority of the adults cannot even read or write. But the legislature have lately made great exertions to improve them in this respect; and it is hoped that the rising generation will be more enlightened.
The society in Upper Canada, with the exception of the small French settlement at Detroit, presents a very different aspect. A great majority of the inhabitants consists of emigrants recently arrived from Ireland, Scotland, and England, who have not yet made much change in their original ideas and habits. Those established at successive periods during the previous half century, are not represented by Mr. Howison, Mr. Talbot, and other writers, under a very favourable light. The tone, especially in the western districts, appears to have been in a great measure given by such Americans as came, not from the civilised portions of the Union, but from the back-wood tracks, breathing rather the spirit of Kentucky than of New England. Disbanded soldiers and sailors were not well calculated to improve the breed; and even the voluntary emigrants were not always composed of the respectable classes, who, under the pressure of the times, have lately embraced this resource. The removal of the ordinary restraints of society, and the absence of religious ordinances and ministration, concurred in giving to them a reckless and unprincipled character. Intoxication, encouraged by the cheapness of spirits, is indulged to a lamentable degree, and is often productive of general ill conduct and ruin. Little regard is paid to the sabbath and other sacred institutions; and the ear of the stranger is wounded, not only by abusive language, but by swearing to an odious and disgusting degree. Pugilistic contests are carried on with a violence rivalling those of Kentucky, and have not always been unaccompanied by the savage practice of gouging. Mr. Talbot, though he admits that he met with many respectable females, charges a large proportion of the sex with a disregard and even insensibility to their first duties. Although a spry lass, as she is termed, is certain of repeated offers, and is sure of being early united in the bonds of matrimony, she may frequently before that event have given birth to one or two children. Our author was in company with a lady, who volunteered to the company the information, that “her Betty” had been two years old at her marriage. The correcter feelings, on this subject, of females from the old country are contemned as ridiculous. Nay, where so little delicacy prevails, and the children are so valuable a possession, the bringing two or three into the world in this irregular manner, instead of being a bar to marriage, proves, it is said, an additional attraction, by making the young lady a species of heiress. After marriage, she makes an active and industrious wife, but expects from her husband much deference, and even that he should wink at occasional frailties. These faults are described by Mr. Gourlay as rapidly disappearing, though Mr. Talbot, and even Mr. Shirreff, found them still too prevalent; but the increased means of instruction, and the example of respectable emigrants, will, it may be hoped, gradually effect a thorough reform.